


halloween with oneuswe

by discountghost



Category: ONEUS (Band), ONEWE (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Traditions
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-03
Updated: 2020-10-03
Packaged: 2021-03-07 20:47:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 925
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26793868
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/discountghost/pseuds/discountghost
Summary: Hello! This is a collection of drabbles to fill the prompts ofthisprompt calendar. I'm a little late with this, but I hope to get to every day this month. If not on the day, then returning to the day when the chance comes.
Relationships: Other Relationship Tags to Be Added, Son Dongju | Xion & Son Dongmyeong
Kudos: 11





	halloween with oneuswe

**Author's Note:**

> I want to preface this by saying that this prompt calendar looks super fun and hopefully my ideas do the prompts justice.

“It’s tradition,” he hears himself say when he finds Dongju in the fields.

Their mother is frantic. Their father...it’s harder to get a read on him, but Dongmyeong knows that he’s worried. That he’s affected in the same way they all are. His brother sits among grass tall enough to cover his lanky frame, knees pressed to his chest. Lips pull down into a pout, expose an expression far too serious for the younger. Dongmyeong has the same sentiments, but he’s the older twin. He’s supposed to make it seem like everything will be alright.

He holds a hand out to his brother. He lifts a head of brown hair to drag red eyes over the older twin’s face. Searches for a sign of doubt, but there are no cracks in Dongmyeong’s facade. He’s practiced long enough. Uses the same words every day to reassure himself that this was what it is: tradition.

“It’s tradition.” The crowd murmurs it as they watch the twins be dipped into the water. They’re to be cleansed of all that gives them blessing, or curse. The slate of their demonic influences is wiped clean. It’s supposed to be a fair fight; one brother with stronger powers would make the playing field uneven. Dongmyeong winces, feels the way his horns melt away. How it’s stripped from the outer shell to the tender flesh beneath. He glances at Dongju as he’s held in the holy water of the spring. Tears run down cheeks that haven’t lost the fat of their youth. His lips tremble even as he presses them together. He’s holding up, but just barely. And that, too, crumbles when he locks eyes with Dongmyeong and lets loose the first sob.

He reaches for his brother, wraps fingers around his own. The officiaters allow it, and for that he is grateful. Dongju stops holding back and the crowd gets the screams they so desire to hear.

“It’s tradition,” his mother sniffs as she fusses with their armor.

It’s sparse, only a few pieces of metal to cover their shoulders, their knees. The chest plate is no more than a leather scrap and it’s tied tightly under the diligent hands of their mother. She murmurs the same phrase as she works, her twin boys standing before her. They tell her she should be relieved. That the worries of ill omens with twins would be gone when this was over. That she would be free to not have to choose who would inherit the little land she had to her name. Dongmyeong knows this because they say it in the open. In front of he and his brother’s faces. Twins have never been seen as a gift and they know, but it still stings. Perhaps it stings Dongju the most.

The other trembles as their mother turns to him. He’s only been fitted for this once before, on their name day. But that was years ago and they were older now. Too old to toddle about unaware of what awaits them this day. She’s wearing white, their mother, but she has the heaviness of black garb around her because she, too, knows. And perhaps she wishes she could go back like Dongmyeong does.

“It’s tradition,” their village chief invokes.

Dongju cries. He’s been crying since they left their home. His tears come hot and fast and Dongmyeong has to hold back from brushing them away. He can’t show this kindness to him now. He’ll need the strength in the future. They stand side by side. He hangs his head as he contemplates the earth. It’s cracked and parched from a drought that has yet to let up. This is why they must continue on. This is why they go through these motions today. And when it is done, the earth will be turned over to make way for a body.

“It’s tradition,” he says again, as if to placate the other.

His voice sounds distant in his own ears, drowned out by the sound of his heart. His pulse slows, steadies itself. He’s known this would be the choice he makes from the moment this tradition is presented to them. From the first weepings of a mother being robbed of a child. From the first realization that hits Dongju’s face. He keeps a smile on his own, placating and calm even as his knees buckle. Dongju comes down with him. He can barely speak. It’s the shock; he’ll get over it. He prays to everything above and below that he does.

Dongmyeong glances down at the sword buried deep in his chest. He can’t breathe. He sputters a little, arm shaking with just the effort of reaching out for his brother. His hand rests on the crook of his neck and shoulder, pulls the younger closer. It forces the sword deeper into him. The leather chest plate is worthless scrap; tanned hide over such a vital area in the face of metal. When he laughs at the idea, it sounds almost incredulous and is chased by a cough that sprays blood into Dongju’s face. The younger wails.

But he keeps the smile on his face for as long as he can. Even as can no longer feel the soft hairs on the back of his brother’s neck or his racing pulse beneath his fingers. Even as his vision dulls, when Dongju finally smiles back at him. He’s done what he’s supposed to do. He’s done his job as the oldest by a minute and he breathes easily for the last time.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! Hopefully, you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it.
> 
> [twt](https://twitter.com/discounthaunts?s=20) | [cc](https://t.co/knd2qckQ79?amp=1)


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